Smart (and skilled) post-production enables us to seamlessly create composites using live models, and live photographed props such as flowers and plants which are harder to recreate within CGI to the level of realism that we demand. The results - photorealistic CGI photography that our clients love.

Cost savings. There really is nothing to lose.

Our CGI really is remarkably realistic, and with recent advances in technology, as well as our finely tuned efficient production process - it really is great value.

CGI brings a multitude of cost savings for customers who may currently use traditional photography.

We’d like to introduce “Set Visions: Horizons” a series of blog posts where we’ll be looking at some of the uses of emerging technologies that some retailers and retail brands are experimenting in - and which we believe will be part of the mainstream in the coming years.

A retail revolution is coming - are you ready?

Having originally started as a Photography Studio in the 90s - evolving over the last decade to deliver CGI photography and interactive visualisers, we’ve become acutely aware of the need to embrace technology as visual communications continue to evolve at fast pace.

Augmented reality, virtual reality, digital immersive experiences - they are all on the horizon, and Set Visons have the vision to create and deliver them now through our in-house team and innovation partnerships.

We’ll cover subjects like Virtual & Augmented Reality in future ‘Horizons’ blog posts… but for our first in the series we are focusing on immersive retail experiences.

Set Visions: Horizons. Part 1 - Immersive retail experiences

We were actually prompted to write this series of blog posts following the announcement of some of the great interactive installations and technologies that have been encoperated into the 14m refurbishment of John Lewis’ homes department of their flagship Oxford Street store which reopened last week.

Encoperating digital experiences into the retail environment isn’t especially new - but as the worlds of commerce and consumer technologies get closer together, the opportunities to produce increasingly personal and engaging content and experiences aimed at increasing sales is growing. Below are some of the great examples we have seen most recently.

John Lewis - Head of Design

The show-stealer is the 'Head of Design', a 2.5m high pod in the shape of a head on the second floor. You enter, respond to a series of psychometric picture tests on an ipad, and leave with a carefully curated moodboard of colours, textures and styles, which you email to yourself.

This autumn Tom Dixon presents MULTIPLEX at the Old Selfridges Hotel, an immersive, multi-sensory department store of tomorrow. MULTIPLEX brings together design, technology, fashion, film and interiors to explore how the future of retail might look, sound, smell, taste and feel.

Tom says: ‘The high streets are fighting a losing battle against the shift to online shopping, while eyewatering rents for prime locations squeeze traditional stores even further. It is time to radically rethink how these spaces can become relevant again in a digitally-defined future. The Multiplex is a prototype shop for the future, a multiple stage for new ideas. Just as in the modern world, the artificial distinctions between Designers, Artists, Manufacturers, Wholesalers and Retailers, Communicators, Entertainers and Customers blur, merge and get redefined. The space becomes a resource for working, playing and entertaining, for inspiration and for business, a platform for superior broadcasting of brands and ideas and a temporary central London entertainment space for new commerce.’

Aware of how today's consumers are utilizing both the digital and physical worlds; Nike sought to create a new 'digital' retail experience. An experience which combines retail store, eCommerce and mobile customer journeys – seamlessly.

An 65'' interactive surface with multi-touch facilitates employees and enables customers on their continued journey. Nike products are comparable with real-time availability for size and color, detected by the ERP system.

Customization and Purchase: The Replica Kiosk

A digital retail kiosk with a 65" touch display where Nike Football fans can find, customize and order their favorite Nike team products. Here one can see product availability in real-time for both in-store or online purchase.

Bloomingdale’s Manhattan flagship store sought to convert passersby into paying customers this Father’s Day with six interactive window displays of Ralph Lauren clothing. Shoppers on-the-go could tap color swatches on a touchscreen facing the sidewalk. That same colored shirt, tie or pants would materialize behind the window. If they liked what they saw, they could text “POLO” for a link to a checkout page.

The experience also aimed to avoid slowing shoppers down — they could opt to have the clothing hand-delivered to the sidewalk, completing the entire impulse buy without ever setting foot in the store.

The mirror in the fitting room of Rebecca Minkoff’s SoHo store doubles as a personal shopping assistant, inviting shoppers to reflect (in every sense of the word) on which designer handbag suits their taste. A touchscreen display suggests alternative designs and colors. Shoppers can flip through their options, make a purchase or even adjust the mood lighting.

Using a custom-built green screen and a bullet time camera rig 16 simultaneous images of a model striking a thematic pose were shot, whilst dressed head-to-toe in clothing from the Mr Porter x Kingsman Collection.

These images were then composited together onto background scenes that were recreated to match three key locations from the film. When guests enter the pod and align themselves with the appropriate markers, the same bullet rig captures their image, creating the illusion of their presence within the film, head-to-toe in the stylish collaborative range. The footage is converted into an animated .gif that guests can share on social media or save via email.

The creative tells the story of the whisky from its heritage in the Scottish Highlands to the unique Macallan distillation process. The campaign features the product itself with 3D animations appearing in and around The Macallan 1824 limited release decanter.

Each stage of the distillery process is visualised from barley fields to quality oak casts, to highlight the processes that contribute to the colour, aroma and flavour of The Macallan, as the tagline states “All our experience distilled into one special collection.”